His team fell to the Heat in the 2006 NBA Finals, beat them in the 2011 Finals. So Mavericks owner Mark Cuban offering his thoughts on the Heat isn't exactly novel.

But Cuban did offer a novel comparison this week, although he did stop short (mercifully so) of comparing Micky Arison to Al Davis: In Cuban's view, the Heat have grown into the Oakland Raiders of the NBA.

"With the two titles, they're still like the bad guys," Cuban told reporters Friday in Dallas, including those from ESPN, NBA.com and The Dallas Morning News. "There's a confidence bordering on arrogance that is good for them as a team and good for us as a league because it also makes them the team that everybody wants to knock off.

"They're kind of in some respects the Oakland Raiders, and I know that's going to get picked up everywhere. They're kind of like the Oakland Raiders when they were winning. I don't want to compare Micky to Al Davis -- that's not fair -- but you either love them or hate them.

"That's always good for the NBA when you have a team that everybody looks forward to beating. Like when we beat them, I would go to places I've never been and people would give me a standing ovation. That's good for the NBA."

"It’s the most conventional wisdom in Washington, the unchallenged idea that America is a divided nation, a country ripped into red and blue factions in perpetual conflict. The government shutdown this fall would seem like only the latest evidence of this political civil war. But is the idea of two Americas even true? Not according to a new Esquire-NBC News survey.

At the center of national sentiment there’s no longer a chasm but a common ground where a diverse and growing majority - 51 percent - is bound by a surprising set of shared ideas.

“Just because Washington is polarized doesn’t mean America is,” says Robert Blizzard, a partner at Public Opinion Strategies, the lead pollster for Mitt Romney in 2012. His firm co-created the survey with the Benenson Strategy Group, pollsters for President Obama, and the result is a nation in eight distinct segments: two on the far right ("The Righteous Right" and "The Talk Radio Heads"), two on the far left ("The Bleeding Hearts" and "The Gospel Left"), and four in the middle that represent nothing less than a new American center ("Minivan Moderates," "The MBA Middle," "The Pick-up Populists, and "The #WhateverMan.")"

Some of President Barack Obama’s closest allies sent a nice fruit basket to one of the most prominent faces of the deeply unpopular congressional Republicans.

Americans United For Change announced it had sent the gift to Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), whose insistence on tying funding for the Affordable Care Act to funding for the federal government helped lead to the current shutdown.

Recent polls have shown the GOP favorability ratings have plunged to all-time lows for any political party, while Obama’s popularity has risen slightly and support for his signature health care law has grown.

“Dear Ted,” said the card on the fruit and snack basket sent by the group’s president, Brad Woodhouse. “A Texas sized thank you!! Thanks to you, Obamacare is more popular and the GOP is less so. Keep up the Good Work!! Yours, Americans United for Change.”

Woodhouse said the gag gift, which cost $91.98 including the service charge, was the best $90 the group has spent.

He said the gift was intended to poke fun at the tea party-backed lawmaker, but it also served a more sincere purpose.

“In the interest of humanity, we sent the food and snacks to his staff because the snack bars are shut down,” Woodhouse said.

House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) has a challenger in the 2014 Republican primary for his House seat.

Businessman Eric Gurr is challenging Boehner for the speaker's congressional seat, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer.

Gurr told the paper he decided to run against Boehner after he backed U.S. military action in Syria.

"It was a tipping point," Gurr said. "I'm not a big fan of getting involved in the internal politics of another country."

Gurr also took issue with Boehner's approach to immigration reform, which the Speaker said needed a more incremental approach than the bipartisan Senate bill.

"They keep saying the immigration system is broken," Gurr told the Enquirer when asked about his opposition to the Senate bill. "That's absolute nonsense."

Gurr, the CEO of computer consulting firm the Best & Brightest Inc., admits that his chances of beating Boehner are slim given the speaker's influence and deep fundraising resources. Boehner has repeatedly easily won reelection in Ohio's 8th congressional district.

So I was reading a Media Matters article, and I saw a couple of commenters who were displeased with the President thus far. The first person commented:

"I'm perfectly willing to concede to President Obama is a man of great intelligence, but he is also a great source of my apparent cynicism.

The 2008 Obama was the man. I loved that guy, and at that time, I wasn't even old enough to legally vote. Something changed once he was sworn in. The NSA program is illegal. The drone strike program is inhumane. President Obama is by own definition a moderate republican were it not for the fact that the Republican Party is a group of fringe lunatics.
The ACA is a compromise in and of itself. Earlier this year, Obama gave the Republicans Social Security cuts when they weren't even asking for it. I have no doubt in my mind that one of President Obama's main goals is to 'de-weaponize' the debt ceiling, a laudable goal to be certain. But I worry about what comes afterwords.

So, yes. I always maintain a bit of cynicism. Especially when our 'progressives' aren't progressive in any sense of the word. And that is my diatribe for tonight."

Another commenter responded, saying:
"You need not wait for an answer to how I feel about Obama.
Just like every other president before him, he sucks."

As far as SS goes, it has been well over 4 years, and Obama still has not made any cuts to it. If he were that eager to make cuts, he would've had plenty of willing Republicans to assist him. All he did was show to everyone how unreasonable and extreme the Republicans have been. He has been the adult in the room and willing to work together with Congress in order to get things done, but they have not been cooperative at all."

And here is my response to the 2nd comment:
"I don't think Obama is perfect, but I would have to take issue with that. It is tough for ANY president to get much accomplished when they have a Congress that is 100% committed to opposing him or her at all costs, no matter how ideologically pure the President may be. At one point, he even proposed a Jobs Bill, yet that was blocked by Congress. Considering all that he has accomplished like lowering the deficit and unemployment, drawing down both wars, extending tax cuts for working class and poor Americans, bringing the country a step closer towards single-payer, signing the Lily Ledbetter act, and being the 1st president to endorse gay marriage, I would argue that he has done a pretty good job thus far."

Anyway, thanks in advance for reading this, and feel free to share your thoughts on my responses. I think I might get thumbed down a bit for those comments, though, since some of the regulars on that site are in fact pretty cynical about President Obama.

So I was reading a Media Matters article, and I saw a couple of commenters who were displeased with the President thus far. The first person commented:

"I'm perfectly willing to concede to President Obama is a man of great intelligence, but he is also a great source of my apparent cynicism.

The 2008 Obama was the man. I loved that guy, and at that time, I wasn't even old enough to legally vote. Something changed once he was sworn in. The NSA program is illegal. The drone strike program is inhumane. President Obama is by own definition a moderate republican were it not for the fact that the Republican Party is a group of fringe lunatics.
The ACA is a compromise in and of itself. Earlier this year, Obama gave the Republicans Social Security cuts when they weren't even asking for it. I have no doubt in my mind that one of President Obama's main goals is to 'de-weaponize' the debt ceiling, a laudable goal to be certain. But I worry about what comes afterwords.

So, yes. I always maintain a bit of cynicism. Especially when our 'progressives' aren't progressive in any sense of the word. And that is my diatribe for tonight."

Another commenter responded, saying:
"You need not wait for an answer to how I feel about Obama.
Just like every other president before him, he sucks."

As far as SS goes, it has been well over 4 years, and Obama still has not made any cuts to it. If he were that eager to make cuts, he would've had plenty of willing Republicans to assist him. All he did was show to everyone how unreasonable and extreme the Republicans have been. He has been the adult in the room and willing to work together with Congress in order to get things done, but they have not been cooperative at all."

And here is my response to the 2nd comment:
"I don't think Obama is perfect, but I would have to take issue with that. It is tough for ANY president to get much accomplished when they have a Congress that is 100% committed to opposing him or her at all costs, no matter how ideologically pure the President may be. At one point, he even proposed a Jobs Bill, yet that was blocked by Congress. Considering all that he has accomplished like lowering the deficit and unemployment, drawing down both wars, extending tax cuts for working class and poor Americans, bringing the country a step closer towards single-payer, signing the Lily Ledbetter act, and being the 1st president to endorse gay marriage, I would argue that he has done a pretty good job thus far."

Anyway, thanks in advance for reading this, and feel free to share your thoughts on my responses. I think I might get thumbed down a bit for those comments, though, since some of the regulars on that site are in fact pretty cynical about President Obama.